Kneecap has vowed court action over the politician\u2019s statements following a ban on the group entering Canada<\/p>\n
Irish rap trio Kneecap is planning legal action against a Canadian MP after Ottawa banned them from the country due to alleged anti-Israel views, the musicians have announced.
\nIt is the latest example of restrictions imposed by the Western governments on musicians over pro-Palestinian stances. Over the past year, a number of artists have been denied entry to various countries or faced cancellations linked to their political views.
\n\u201cOur government will not tolerate the advocating of political violence, terrorism or anti-Semitism and hate more broadly,\u201d Canadian MP Vince Gasparro said in a video posted to X on Friday, confirming that the group had been prohibited from entering.
\nKneecap, which had four shows scheduled for October in Toronto and Vancouver, dismissed the allegations, saying the band\u2019s lawyers would initiate legal action over the X post.
\nIn a statement on Instagram, the band called Gasparro\u2019s accusations \u201cwholly untrue and deeply malicious,\u201d insisting that no member of the band had \u201cbeen convicted of any crime in any country ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
BBC bans \u2018high-risk\u2019 broadcasts after anti-Israeli calls<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we beat you in court, which we will,\u201d Kneecap wrote, \u201cwe will donate every cent to assist some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.\u201d
\nKneecap has previously stated that they do not support Hamas or Hezbollah. One of the group\u2019s members, Liam Og O hAnnaidh, is currently facing a charge in the UK for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a rally in 2024. He denies the accusation and the case has been adjourned until September 26.
\nThis is not the first time artists have faced institutional pressure over their pro-Palestine statements. In April, American singer Kehlani had a show at Cornell University cancelled due to her pro-Palestine views. In May, Irish post-punk group Murder Capital was dropped from venues in Germany after displaying a Palestinian flag on stage. In July, the US revoked the visas of members of English punk rap duo Bob Vylan following pro-Gaza remarks at Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kneecap has vowed court action over the politician\u2019s statements following a ban on the group entering Canada Irish rap trio Kneecap is planning legal action against a Canadian MP after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t